Circuit and Method for Operating a Node in a Radio Network

ABSTRACT

A circuit and a method for operating a node in a radio network, whereby nodes of the same radio network have a common network ID and each node individually is assigned a node ID, wherein during the reception of a current packet by a receiving circuit of the node, an address contained in the packet is determined, wherein reception of the current packet is continued when the determined address agrees with the network ID of the node and the node ID of the node, and wherein during reception of the current packet, the reception of the current packet is terminated and the receiving circuit is controlled based on a case decision, when the determined address does not agree with the network ID of the node or the node ID of the node.

This nonprovisional application claims priority to German PatentApplication No. DE 10 2009 029 783.9, which was filed in Germany on Jun.18, 2009, and to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/218,225, which wasfiled on Jun. 18, 2009, and which are both herein incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a circuit of a node in a radio networkand a method for operating a node in a radio network.

2. Description of the Background Art

A radio network is defined in the industry standard IEEE 802.15.4-2006.In this regard, on pages 21 to 23 in the standard, packets to betransmitted by radio are defined, which may contain different frames,such as, for example, a so-called beacon frame, a data frame, anacknowledgement frame, or a MAC command frame.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an object of the present invention to improve a methodfor operating a node in a radio network as much as possible.Accordingly, a method for operating a node in a radio network isprovided. Nodes of the same radio network are assigned a common networkidentification code (network ID). Each node individually is assigned, inaddition, a node identification code (node ID).

In the method, during reception of a current packet by a receivingcircuit of the node, an address contained in the packet is determined.

The reception of the current packet can be continued, when thedetermined address agrees with the network ID of the node and the nodeID of the node. If the packet can be received completely, the content ofa frame of the packet can be evaluated by an arithmetic unit by means ofsoftware implemented in the arithmetic unit.

During reception of the current packet, the reception of the currentpacket is terminated and the receiving circuit is controlled based on acase decision, when the determined address does not agree with thenetwork ID of the node or the node ID of the node. The case decisionoccurs preferably as a function of the determined address.

The invention has as its object, further, to provide as improved acircuit as possible. Accordingly, a circuit of a node is provided, whichis used in a radio network. Nodes of the same radio network are assigneda common network ID. Each node of the radio network individually isassigned, in addition, a node ID.

The circuit has an analog/digital receiving circuit for receiving acurrent packet. The receiving circuit has a control input forcontrolling the reception. For example, the receiving circuit can beturned on and off by a control signal at the control input. For thispurpose, the receiving circuit has, for example, a number of switchingelements, which are connected to a supply voltage. For the reception,the receiving circuit is formed, for example, for downmixing, fordemodulation, and for correlation of a receive signal.

The circuit has a digital evaluation circuit, which is connected to thecontrol input of the receiving circuit for controlling the reception.The evaluation circuit can have a logic, particularly a state machine,which performs functions of the evaluation circuit, for example, thecontrol of the receiving circuit by outputting a control signal.

The evaluation circuit can be set up to determine an address containedin the packet, even while the current packet is being received. Todetermine the address, the evaluation circuit can read, for example,information from address fields within the packet.

The receiving circuit and the evaluation circuit can be set up tocontinue to receive the current packet, when the determined addressagrees with the network ID of the node and the node ID of the node.Preferably, during or after the determining of the agreement, anarithmetic unit is awakened, which starts a program run to evaluate theinformation in a frame of the received packet.

The evaluation circuit can be set up to control the receiving circuitbefore complete reception of the current packet to terminate thereception of the current packet, when the determined address does notagree with the network ID of the node or the node ID of the node.

The embodiments described hereinafter refer to both the method and thecircuit. The functions of the circuit can be derived hereby from themethod features.

According to an embodiment, the receiving circuit can be turned off toterminate the reception of the current packet during transmission of thepacket, optionally, to another node. The turning off of the receivingcircuit occurs when according to the case decision the determinedaddress agrees with the network ID but not with the node ID. In thiscase, the packet is intended for another node of the same radio network.

In another embodiment, it is provided that an OFF time can be computedbased on the information contained in the packet. Preferably, theinformation is assigned to the data length of a frame of the packet.Preferably, the OFF time is computed based on a packet transmissionrate. According to an embodiment, the receiving circuit is turned on forreception with the end of the OFF time.

According to an embodiment, the OFF time can be computed in additionbased on information, contained in the packet, on an acknowledgment. Theacknowledgement can also be called a confirmation. The OFF time in thecase of the acknowledgment is computed based on a time point of asending back of the acknowledgment. Preferably, the OFF time is limitedby a maximum value. Preferably, the time point of sending back theacknowledgment in the radio network is defined and therefore known. Forexample, the time interval between the end of the packet and the timepoint of sending back the acknowledgment is established at the systemlevel.

When the reception of the current frame is terminated, an arithmeticunit, particularly a microcontroller, of the node is not awakened whenthe specific address does not agree with the node ID of the node.

According to an embodiment, synchronization parameters of the receivingcircuit for terminating the reception of the current packet are cleared,in order to begin a synchronization to a new preamble of the particularradio network during the transmission of the packet in another radionetwork. The synchronization parameters of the receiving circuit aretherefore cleared during the transmission of the packet, when accordingto the case decision the determined address does not agree with thenetwork ID of the node.

Further, the reception energy of the current packet with the,non-conforming network ID can be determined. Based on the determinedreception energy, preferably an upper threshold and/or a lower thresholdare determined. Preferably, the upper threshold is at a distance fromthe determined reception energy. Preferably, the lower threshold is at adistance from the determined reception energy.

After the determination of the reception energy, synchronization to anew preamble can be started, when the current reception energy in thetransmission channel exceeds the upper threshold or falls below thelower threshold. If the reception in the transmission channel exceedsthe upper threshold, only minor interferences with the signal of theforeign radio network are to be expected. If the reception energy in thetransmission channel falls below the lower threshold, the probability ishigh that a sender in the particular radio network is able toreceive—during a transmission pause of the sender from the foreignnetwork. Alternatively, a time counter can also be used for determiningthe time length of the packet with a non-conforming network ID. In thiscase, the synchronization to a new preamble is started with thetermination of the time counter.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus, are not limitiveof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 a shows a schematic illustration of a packet;

FIG. 1 b shows a schematic illustration of a control signal;

FIG. 1 c shows a schematic illustration of reception states;

FIG. 2 shows a schematic flowchart; and

FIG. 3 shows a schematic block diagram of a circuit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1, a packet 100 is shown schematically, as it is transmitted ina radio network. Packet 100 has a frame with the fields 140, 150, 160,and 170. The transmission of packet 100 is depicted over the time t. Inthis regard, a preamble 110 is transmitted first, then a start field 120(SFD, start of frame delimiter), followed by a packet header 130 (PHR,PHY HeadeR) with the information on frame length, and then a frame withthe fields 140, 150, 160, and 170.

The illustration in FIG. 1 a is exemplary for a packet 100 with a dataframe of the industry standard IEEE 802.15.4. The data frame has a framecontrol field 140 (frame control), a sequence number 150, an address 160(addressing fields), and other fields 170 with useful data with a numberof n octets. The useful data in this regard typically make up theoverwhelming part of the data frame.

It is necessary for the method described below that packet 100 containsan address 160. The address 160 contains a first component which enablesassignment to the network. For this purpose, for example, the firstcomponent of the address 160 is compared with a network ID NWID storedin the node (FIG. 3). The address 160 contains a second component whichenables assignment to precisely one node. For this purpose, for example,the second component of the address 160 of packet 100 is compared with anode ID KNID stored in the node (FIG. 3). The network ID NWID and thenode ID KNID in this regard form a unique identification by means ofwhich precisely one node in the radio network is identifiable.

The industry standard IEEE 802.15.4, further, defines packets with abeacon frame, an acknowledgment frame, and a MAC command frame. A partof the defined frame requires an acknowledgment 180 (ACK,ACKnowledgement) of reception from a receiver. The acknowledgment 180,as shown in FIG. 1 a, is sent back to the sender by the recipient of theframe between the time points tACKa and tACKb. Other packets of otherindustry standard, such as WLAN, Bluetooth, or WiMax, can have adifferent structure, for example, with another sequence of fields, butare also defined with an address.

It will be assumed below that the node for reception of information isactivated. To this end, a receiver circuit 310, as it is shown in FIG.3, is activated by turning on a control signal en, as shown in FIG. 1 b,by means of a high level of receiver circuit 310. A reception status ofa receiving node is thereby controlled in an ON state RXON.

In the ON state RXON a search phase 210 begins, as it is shown in FIG. 1c, whereby the receiver circuit attempts to synchronize to a receivesignal. With the reception of preamble 110 of packet 100, the receivingcircuit performs a frequency estimation. Synchronization parameters,such as phase, timing, or offset, are determined. For further reception,the synchronization parameters are frozen. The preamble sequence 110 andthe following start field 120 (SFD, start of frame delimiter) enable thereceiving node to perform a symbol synchronization. The synchronizedstate defines a transmission phase 230 in which the fields 130, 140,150, and 160 are received. In this regard, the length of the followingframe (140, 150, 160, 170) is determined from the packet header 130.

During the reception of a current packet 100 by the receiving circuit310 of the node, the address 160 contained in packet 100 is determined.Based on the address 160, a case differentiation is performed by thereceiving node.

In a first case, reception of the current packet 100 by receivingcircuit 310 is continued when the determined address 160 agrees with thenetwork ID NWID of the node and the node ID KNID of the node. In thiscase, the packet is intended for the receiving node itself, so thatfields 170 with the useful data are received and optionally evaluated bythe node. For the evaluation, for example, an arithmetic unit 360 (FIG.3), such as, for example, a microcontroller, is awakened.

If the determined address 160 does not agree with the network ID NWID ofthe node or the node ID KNID of the node, during the reception of thecurrent packet 100, the reception of the current packet 100 isterminated by the node. The fields 170 are therefore no longercompletely received by the node. Two possible cases, based on thedetermined address, are indicated by the arrows from the address 160 inFIG. 1 a to FIGS. 1 b and 1 c. Receiving circuit 310 is controlled basedon this case decision.

If according to the case decision, the determined address 160 agreeswith the network ID NWID and, moreover, the address 160 does not agreewith the node ID KNID, a response occurs which is shown in FIG. 1 b. Inthis case, the receiving circuit 310 is turned off to terminate thereception of the current packet 100 during further transmission ofpacket 100. In connection with FIG. 1 a, it is shown in FIG. 1 b that areceive status of the receiving node changes from an ON state RXON to anOFF state RXOFF. By way of example, a control signal en is shown, whichdepending on the determined address 160 during the transmission ofpacket 100 turns off the receiver circuit 310 of the node by a lowlevel. A receive status of the receiving node is thereby controlled inan OFF state RXOFF.

An OFF time tOFF, during which receiving circuit 310 is turned off, canbe provided, for example, as a fixed value. Preferably, the OFF timetOFF is computed by an evaluation circuit 330 (FIG. 3). The computing ofthe OFF time tOFF occurs based on the frame length which is defined inthe packet header 130. In addition, the computing of the OFF time tOFFoccurs optionally, but preferably based on the transmission rate,provided it can be changed in the radio network. In addition, thecomputation of the OFF time tOFF occurs optionally but preferably basedon information contained in the frame on whether an acknowledgment 180is to be sent back by the recipient.

By means of this exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 1 b, thesignificant advantage is achieved that during the OFF time tOFF, thecurrent uptake by receiving circuit 310 is substantially reduced.Because the length of fields 170 in packet 100 predominates by far, theaverage current uptake can be considerably reduced, so that a batterylifetime of a battery-operated node is increased. The time intervalbetween the transmission time point of the acknowledgement 180 to theend of packet 100 is established at the system level. If the OFF timetOFF is therefore computed at a time point tACKe to the end of theacknowledgment 180, the current consumption can be reduced further.

If according to the case decision, the determined address 160 does notagree with the network ID NWID, a response occurs which is shown in FIG.1 c. In this case, synchronization parameters, such as phase, timing, orfrequency offset, of the receiving circuit 310 are cleared during thetransmission of packet 100, which causes a termination of the receptionof packet 100. For synchronization to a new (particularlynetwork-specific) preamble (not shown in FIGS. 1 a, 1 b, and 1 c), whichis transmitted concurrently during the transmission of the packet inanother network, the search phase 210′ is restarted.

Synchronization to a new preamble can occur because of the clearing ofold synchronization parameters while the packet of the foreign networkis still being received. This has the surprising effect that the nodewith the synchronization to a preamble of a packet from a foreignnetwork is not blind to the transmissions, started in the interim in itsown radio network, for the entire duration of transmission of the packetof the foreign network. The availability of the nodes in the particularradio network for transmission is hereby significantly increased.

A schematic flowchart for a case decision is shown schematically in FIG.2. After a node is started for reception, in a first process step 1synchronization parameters for reception are reset (R-SYNC). In a secondstep, synchronization 220, SYNC, to a received preamble 110 and thereception of a start field 120, a packet header 130, and possibly otherfields 140, 150, and an address 160 take place. A component of theaddress 160 is compared in step 3 with a network ID NWID. If the address160 and the network ID NWID do not agree, the synchronization parametersare again cleared in step 1.

If the address 160 and the network ID NWID agree, in step 4 a componentof the address 160 is compared with a node ID KNID. If the address 160and the node ID KNID do not agree, in step 7 an OFF time tOFF iscomputed, a timer with the OFF time is started, and a receiving circuit310 (FIG. 3) in step 8 is placed in an OFF state RXOFF. In the OFFstate, the predominant portion of the node circuit is turned off. Onlythe timer needs to be supplied with current. After the timer is done, instep 9 the receiving circuit 310 is placed in an ON state RXON and instep 1 the synchronization parameters are again cleared.

If the address 160 and the node ID KNID agree, packet 100 is intendedfor the node itself and the node receives packet 100 in step 5. If theframe transmitted with packet 100 requires an acknowledgment, theacknowledgment ACK is sent back in step 6.

A schematic block diagram of a circuit 300 of a radio network node isshown in FIG. 3. In circuit 300, a network ID NWID is stored, which isthe same for all nodes in the same radio network. In addition, incircuit 300 a node ID is stored which enables an individualidentification for the node in the radio network.

The circuit has a receiving circuit 310 for receiving a current packet100. The receiving circuit 310 is connected to an antenna for reception.The receiving circuit 310 has a first control input 311 and a secondcontrol input 312 to control the reception. Receiving circuit 310 can beturned on and off by means of a first control signal en via the firstcontrol input 311. Synchronization parameters can be cleared by means ofa second control signal r via the second control input 312. Both controlsignals en and r in this regard can cause termination of the receptionof the current packet.

The circuit furthermore has an evaluation circuit 330, which isconnected via a number of control outputs 351, 352 to the first controlinput 311 and to the second control input 312 of receiving circuit 310to control reception. The evaluation circuit 330 has a memory 340, forexample, a register REG for storing information contained in packet 100.The evaluation circuit 330 is set up to determine an address 160,contained in packet 100, while the current packet 100 is being received.To determine the address and to control receiving circuit 310,evaluation circuit 310 has a logic, particularly a state machine, whichis not shown in FIG. 3. The address, for example, is read out of thememory 340.

Further, evaluation circuit 330 is set up for a case decision. If thedetermined address 160 agrees with the network ID NWID of the node,stored in evaluation circuit 330, and the node ID KNID of the node,receiving circuit 310 and evaluation circuit 330 continue the receptionof the current packet 100. Evaluation circuit 330 has a digitalcomparator 350 to check the agreement. Evaluation circuit 330 furtherhas a connection to an arithmetic unit 360, for example, amicrocontroller. If the comparison result is positive, arithmetic unit360 is awakened.

If a data frame of the packet has been completely received, the data ofthe data frame are transferred from evaluation circuit 330 to arithmeticunit 360. Arithmetic unit 360 in this regard is formed to execute aprogram run of software implemented in arithmetic unit 360. Thefunctions of the state machine in evaluation circuit 330 in so doing canbe used independent of the execution of the software in arithmetic unit360. In addition, evaluation circuit 330 transmits an acknowledgment ACKback to the sender of packet 100 via transmission circuit 320.

If the determined address 160 does not agree with the network ID NWID ofthe node or the node ID KNID of the node, evaluation circuit 330 isformed to terminate the reception of the current packet 100 byoutputting a control signal en or r to receiving circuit 310. Thecontrol of receiving circuit 310 by evaluation circuit 330 occurs inthis regard while current packet 100 is still being transmitted.Complete reception of current packet 100 does not occur in this case.

The invention is not limited to the shown embodiment variants of FIGS. 1a through 3. For example, it is possible to perform the comparison ofthe address with the network ID NWID and the node ID KNID at the sametime. The functionality of the circuit according to FIG. 3 can be usedespecially advantageously for a radio network according to an industrystandard, such WLAN or WiMax. Preferably, the function is used for abattery-operated node of a radio network according to the industrystandard IEEE 802.15.4.

The invention being thus described, it will be obvious that the same maybe varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are to beincluded within the scope of the following claims.

1-8. (canceled)
 9. A node in a radio network comprising: a receivingcircuit configured to receive a first portion of a current packet,wherein the node is one of a plurality of nodes in a radio network thathave a common network ID and an individual node ID; and an evaluationcircuit connectable to the receiving circuit and configured to: examinethe first portion of the current packet to identify an address containedin the current packet; if the identified address corresponds to thecommon network ID of the node and the individual node ID of the node,cause the receiving circuit to continue to receive a second portion ofthe current packet; if the identified address does not correspond to thecommon network ID of the node or the individual node ID of the node:cause the receiving circuit to terminate reception of the second portionof the current packet; synchronize the receiving circuit to a newpreamble; determine a current reception energy of the current packet;and based at least on the determined current reception energy, determineone or more of an upper threshold and a lower threshold, whereinsynchronizing the receiving circuit to the new preamble is initiated ifthe current reception energy in the transmission channel exceeds theupper threshold or falls below the lower threshold.
 10. A method foroperating a node in a radio network comprising: receiving, by areceiving circuit of a node, a first portion of a current packet,wherein the node is one of a plurality of nodes in a radio network thathave a common network ID and an individual node ID; examining the firstportion of the current packet to identify an address contained in thecurrent packet; if the identified address corresponds to the commonnetwork ID of the node and the individual node ID of the node,continuing reception of a second portion of the current packet; and ifthe identified address does not correspond to the common network ID ofthe node or the individual node ID of the node, terminating reception ofthe second portion of the current packet for a length of time based on adata length of a frame of the current packet and a transmission time ofan acknowledgment to be transmitted by the node.
 11. The method of claim10, further comprising continuing reception, by the receiving circuit,of at least a portion of a packet after the length of time expires ifthe identified address does not correspond to the common network ID ofthe node or the individual node ID of the node.
 12. The method of claim10, further comprising terminating the reception of the second portionof the current packet if the identified address corresponds to thecommon network ID and does not correspond to the individual node ID. 13.The method of claim 10, wherein the length of time is limited by amaximum value.
 14. The method of claim 10, further comprising, inresponse to determining that the identified address does not correspondto the network ID of the node: clearing one or more synchronizationparameters of the receiving circuit; and synchronizing the receivingcircuit to a new preamble.
 15. The method of claim 14, furthercomprising, in response to determining that the identified address doesnot correspond to the network ID of the node: determining a currentreception energy of the current packet; and based at least on thedetermined current reception energy, determining one or more of an upperthreshold and a lower threshold, wherein synchronizing the receivingcircuit to the new preamble is initiated if the current reception energyin the transmission channel exceeds the upper threshold or falls belowthe lower threshold.
 16. A node in a radio network comprising: areceiving circuit configured to receive a first portion of a currentpacket, wherein the node is one of a plurality of nodes in a radionetwork that have a common network ID and an individual node ID; and anevaluation circuit connectable to the receiving circuit and configuredto: examine the first portion of the current packet to identify anaddress contained in the current packet; if the identified addresscorresponds to the common network ID of the node and the individual nodeID of the node, cause the receiving circuit to continue to receive asecond portion of the current packet; if the identified address does notcorrespond to the common network ID of the node or the individual nodeID of the node, cause the receiving circuit to terminate reception ofthe second portion of the current packet for a length of time based on adata length of a frame of the current packet and a transmission time ofan acknowledgment to be transmitted by the node.
 17. The node of claim16, wherein the evaluation circuit is further configured to continuereception, by the receiving circuit, of at least a portion of a packetafter the length of time expires if the identified address does notcorrespond to the common network ID of the node or the individual nodeID of the node.
 18. The node of claim 16, wherein the evaluation circuitis further configured to terminate the reception of the second portionof the current packet if the identified address corresponds to thecommon network ID and does not correspond to the individual node ID. 19.The node of claim 16, wherein the length of time is limited by a maximumvalue.
 20. The node of claim 16, wherein the evaluation circuit, inresponse to determining that the identified address does not correspondto the network ID of the node, is further configured to: clear one ormore synchronization parameters of the receiving circuit; andsynchronize the receiving circuit to a new preamble.
 21. The node ofclaim 20, wherein the evaluation circuit, in response to determiningthat the identified address does not correspond to the network ID of thenode, is further configured to: determine a current reception energy ofthe current packet; and based at least on the determined currentreception energy, determine one or more of an upper threshold and alower threshold, wherein synchronizing the receiving circuit to the newpreamble is initiated if the current reception energy in thetransmission channel exceeds the upper threshold or falls below thelower threshold.